Continuously operating centrifugal hydroextractor provided with a mechanical timer

ABSTRACT

A centrifugal hydroextractor for fibrous material processing, comprising a rotating basket and a dispensing member for the material to be processed, which is rotatably mounted coaxially with and internally of said basket. The dispensing member is provided with material guide paths from the center to the side walls of the basket; at least one disc valve, closing the basket at the top, is fast with said dispenser and has a central aperture for the material supply and a number of peripheral ports corresponding to said paths. Drive means provided for rotating said basket and dispensing member with different angular velocities.

United States Patent 1 1 I [111 3,794,177

Lega et a]. Feb. 26, 1974 [5 CONTINUOUSLY OPERATING 3,707,235 12/1972Talley, Jr. 210 377 CENTRIFUGAL HYDROEXTRACTOR' 2,752,043 6/1956 VanRiel 210/377 X PROVIDED WITH A MECHANICAL TIMER P E F k A s J rzmaryxammerran ear, r. [75] Inventors: Berlando Lega; G annanglolo Assistantcalvgtti Cecch" both of Flrenze Italy Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Harvey B.Jacobson; Clar- [73] Texfluid S.n.c. di G. Cecchi e B., enCe OBricnLega, Firenze, Italy 221 Mar. 7, 1972 I [571 ABSTRACT [21] A 1 No 232400 A centrifugal hydroextractor for fibrous material propp 'cessing,comprising a rotating basket and a dispensing member for the material tobe processed, which is ro- [30] Foreign Application Priority Datatatably mounted coaxially with and internally of said Mar. 23, 1971Italy .I 22121 71 basket The dispensing member is Provided With materialguide paths from the center to the side walls of the [52] us. Cl.210/377 at least one disc valve, closing the basket at [51] Int. Cl B01d21/26 the p is fast with said dispenser and has a al 58 Field of Search210/78, 377 aperture for the material pp y and a number of P ripheralports corresponding to said paths. Drive [56] References Ci d meansprovided for rotating said basket and dispens- UNITED STATES PATENTS ingmember with different angular velocities.

3,483,991 Humphrey 2l0/377 15 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures 50' 50 4 76' 527 52 o I a a. 06!; on :0 [7! 0 g 6, Z/ W a id PATENIEDFEBZB 1974 SHEET2 OF 4 PAIENTEB FEBZS I974 SHEET 3- BF 4 PATENTEMazsmu 3,794,177

sum u (If 4 CONTINUOUSLY OPERATING CENTRIFUGAL HYDROEXTRACTOR PROVIDEDWITH A MECHANICAL TIMER This invention relates to a centrifugalhydroextractor capable of being upstream supplied by a continuous flowof material to be processed, and downstream supplying a continuous flowof centrifuged material, without it being required to stop the machinefor material loading and unloading and without any stop for the materialflow within the machine. The present invention is particularly adaptedto centrifugation of general fibrous material, either natural orartificial, such as textile staple.

Centrifugal hydroextractors hitherto used in textile industry arediscontinuous machines essentially comprising a perforate cylindricalbasket, internally of which the material is placed. When the machine isloaded, the basket is rotated, so that the soaking liquid on beingsubjected to the centrifugal force will exit from the basket holes.

The shortcomings exhibited by this type of machines are as follows:substantial labour for loading the material, thus closing and startingup the machine, then following centrifugation unloading the material;high current drains due to frequent full load startings; lowproductivity due to the high rate of dead times in loading andunloading; material stop because of using a discontinuous machine in anotherwise continuous processing cycle; moisture disuniformity in theprocessed material due to the high amount of the material in the machineupon centrifugation; substantial foundation structures required by amachine operating under heavy unbalanced loads and high speed ofrotation.

Commercially available machines include also some types of centrifugalpulse operating hydroextractors, essentially comprising a rotatingperforate cylindrical basket which is continuously loaded, and a diskwhich, upon axially moving from the bottom to the opposite edge of thebasket, causes the centrifuged material to be ejected.

Such centrifugal hydroextractors are used to a low extent in textileindustry because of the following main reasons: squeeze rollers have tobe installed ahead of these hydroextractors since the efficiency of thelatter would be unacceptable when supplied with a material too rich insoaking liquid; thus, the centrifugal pulse 7 operating hydroextractorswould take up a function complementary to that of the squeeze rollers,and the installation assembly would reach such costs that in most casessuggest to give up to using this type of machines; substantial drains indriving power due to recipbeing used alone in textile industry only whena low degree of dehydration is deemed acceptable, substantially cannotyet replace in common use the discontinuously operating hydroextractors,and this notwithstanding the disadvantages in the latter.

The object of the present invention is to provide a centrifuge orhydroextractor overcoming the above mentioned disadvantages.

According to the invention, a continuously operating hydroextractor,particularly for fibrous material processing, is characterized bycomprising a rotating basket and a dispensing member for the material tobe processed rotating coaxially and internally of said basket; the sidewalls of said basket being substantially shaped as a frustrum of cone,the basket also having a bottom wall, while said dispensing member isprovided with guide surfaces defining paths from the center to the sidewalls of the basket for the continuously fed material; a disc valve fastwith the dispensing member closing said basket at top; the disc valvehaving a central aperture for loading and at least two side aperturesfor unloading the processed material; the hydroextractor also comprisingmeans for rotating at different speeds said basket and said dispensingmembers and disc valve, whereby the material to be processed, as fedcentrally of said dispensing member, is radially guided by the latter tothe side walls of the basket so that the centrifugal force action cancause the material to naturally slide on said guide surfaces.

The invention will now be more fully described with reference to theappended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical section of the entire hydroextractoraccording to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view showing a first type of machine with theomission of the picker;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view similar to that in FIG. 2, but for a second typeof machine having a reversed relative motion with respect to thehydroextractor in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to that in FIG. 4, but for a third type ofmachine fitted with a double disc valve;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 77 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary schematic sectional view taken along line 8-8 ofFIG. 9, showing an epicyclic controller train for the hydroextractoraccording to the invention;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a scheme showing the circulation of the mechanical power;

FIGS. 11 and 12 are fragmentary sectional views showing thehydroextractor and epicyclic controller train as constructed accordingto a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 13 shows an exemplary hydroextractor provided with a three-bladedispenser; and

FIG. 14 shows a modified form for the dispenser blades.

Now referring to FIGS. 1 3 of the drawings, it will be seen that thehydroextractor according to the invention substantially comprises anouter rotating basket 15, internally and coaxially of which a dispensingmember 16 rotates, the latter being partially shown in FIG. 1 and morefully described in the following.

The basket 15 has frustro-conical side wall having holes 17 for thepassage of water therethrough and a bottom wall 18 made integral with ahollow shaft 19 pivoted by suitable bearings and passing through thebottom of a trough 20 which, in turn, is carried by spring suspensions21 from a base 22 for resting on the ground. Similarly, the dispenser 16comprises a lower disc 23, kept slightly apart from the bottom wall 18of the basket and made integral with a drive shaft 24 reent hereinafter.If desired, the holes 17 could also be omitted and the water emerge fromthe slit between the edge of basket and said disc valve 33.

As shown in FIG. 1, the trough is closed at the top by a bonnet orcylindrical structure, the bottom portion 27 of which embraces thebasket 15 and along with the underlying trough 20 defines a chamber 27for collecting the water from the basket 15 due to the centrifugation ofthe material within said basket. This chamber 27' comunicates through anoutlet 28 on the bottom of trough 20 with a discharge piping 29 emerginglaterally of the machine base 22. The top portion 30 of the closingbonnet for said trough forms a collecting chamber 31 of a picker for thecentrifuged material. This picker substantially comprises the portion 30of said bonnet and a rotating bottom formed of the disc valve 33 and issidewise provided with a discharge outlet 32. The portion 30 of saidbonnet at its central zone also forms a hopper 30 for introducing thematerial to be centrifuged and admitted, for example, by a conveyorbelt, not shown.

Thus, the picker 30-33 assumes an annular shape and communicates withthe basket 15 through suitable apertures in the disc valve 33 making upthe bottom of the picker, as described hereinafter. Thus, thecentrifuged material from the inside of basket 15, after passing thedisc valve 33 as set forth in the following, will discharge in thepicker, where the material turns either by inertia or because ofrotation of the entire bottom 33 until encountering the discharge outlet32, exiting therefrom at such a speed that it is routed to a nextmachine arranged for a processing subsequent to centrifugation process.

At the zone underlying the bottom of trough 20, an electric motor 34 issupported and by means of a hydraulic clutch 35 rotates the pair ofdriving pulleys 36, 37 (FIG. 1) which are rigidly interconnected. Thishydraulic clutch is effective to facilitate both the machine startingsand counter-current braking thereof. A pair of belts 38, 39 connect thepulleys 36, 37 to a second pair of independent pulleys 40 and 41controlling an epicyclic controller train 42 to be describedhereinafter.

The different diameters of the four pulleys establish the difference inthe speed of rotation of pulleys 40 and 41. This difference in speed ofrotation between the pulleys 40 and 41,. as reduced by means of saidepicyclic controller train, designated at 42 in FIG. 1, is transmittedto the above mentioned pair of coaxial shafts 19, 24.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, showing a single disc valve machine, a moredetailed description will be now given for the construction features ofsaid despensing member and disc valve making up, as a whole, a timingdevice, the function of which is to retain the material to be processedfor a predetermined time within the basket so as to carry out thedesired degree of dehydration of the material.

Referring to the above figures, it will be seen that the dispensingmember comprises a flat base or plate 23 and a pair of vertical blades25, 26 opposite to and spaced apart from each other, conjunctly definingpaths leading the fed material from center to walls of basket 15, sothat, due to the centrifugal force, the material will slide naturally onthe surface guides of said blades. Thus, as shown in FIG 2 where it isassumed that the absolute speed of rotation for the blades is lower thanthe absolute speed of rotation for the basket, so that the direction ofthe relative motion for the blades is reversed to that for the basket15, each of the blades have a first straight length 25, 26 parallelarranged to a diameter of basket 15, followed by a second curve length25", 26" which is bent in an opposite direction to that of the relativemotion of the blade.

When comparing FIG. 2 with FIG. 4, in which maintaining the samedirection of rotation for the basket and timer, as shown by the arrow 45in both figures, but varying the absolute speed of rotation for thetimer, it will be seen that mutually reversed directions of relativemotion for the timer are obtained; particularly in FIG. 2, the timerrotates anticlockwise at a lower speed than basket 15 and hence therelative direction of rotation of said timer indicated by arrow 46,corresponds to the clockwise direction of rotation of said timer, whilein FIG. 4, being the speed of rotation for the timer slightly higherthan that for the basket, the relative motion direction for the timer isreversed or anticlockwise, as shown by arrow 47. By explanatory way, itis specified that this difference in speed of rotation between thebasket and timer is extremely small and in the order of fractions of aturn as a result of the centrifugation period required by the material.For example, it is specified that the basket is rotated at about 1,000r.p.m. and the dispenser is rotated at about 999.25 r.p.m. In addition,the curvature of the blades should be such that the material paths areso directed that the material never impinges the outlet edge of theblades and impales between said edge and the inner basket face.

The difference between the embodiment of FIG. 3 and that of FIG. 4 alsolies in the different position the discharge ports 48 and 49 on the edgeof the disc valve 33 for the material outlet assume relative to thecorresponding blades 26 and 25, respectively.

Thus, the material to be centrifuged from the hopper 30', on passingthrough the central hole 50 in the disc valve 33, will continuously falldown on the underlying dispenser and slide by centrifugal force alongthe blades 25 and 26 to the walls of basket 15 where it adheres, whilebeing prevented from exiting out of the basket by the disc valve 33.

Owing to the higher adherence the material exhibits on the basket wallsrelative to that on the disc valve 33, as a result of the centrifugalforce the material is caused to follow the rotational motion of thebasket and to creep under the disc valve, so that in connection with thelatter, the material moves in the direction of arrows 51 and 52 in FIG.2 and respectively 54 and 53 in FIG. 4, respectively to the outlet ports49, 48 in FIG. 2 and 49, 48 in FIG. 4 in said disc valve. Thus thecentrifuged material emerges after a centrifugation time proportional tothe angular spacing between a blade and associated outlet port anddischarges into the picker chamber 31, emerging therefrom through thedischarge outlet 32 (FIG. 1).

The shape of the mechanical timer 23, 25, 26, 33, which is an essentialelement in the invention, is such as to render the hydroextractorcapable of also centrifuging the textile staple, which for its fibrousnature tends to wrap about any mechanical member being impinged by aflow of said staple, upon accumulation, stopping said flow and which,offering one of the major merits in the length of its fibers, cannotundergo mechanical strains which would impair its commercial value.Thus, such is the shape of the dispenser that the machine can be loadedalong its axis of rotation, where the speeds due to rotation tend tocancel, enabling the material to be collected by the blades withoutundergoing undue acceleration stresses; then to be gradually acceleratedalong its path on the blades until being laid on the basket, where itarrives without any possibility of being retained by the unavoidableconnection members of the disc valve with the associated driving shaft.The angular spacing between the discharge ports of the valve disc andthe outlet edges of the blades is constant in time, and therefore, alsobecause of the constancy in the speed of relative rotation between thebasket and mechanical timer, the centrifugation time of the material isconstant, thus ensuring the uniformity in dehydration thereof.

In order to increase the centrifugation time for the material under thesame production, or to allow for processings of the material as itpasses through the machine, such as for example a material washing aftera first centrifugation and resulting final centrifugation, a machineprovided with a plurality of disc valves could be used.

An exemplary machine having two disc valves is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 ofthe appended drawings, wherein the unaltered parts are still designatedby the same reference numerals.

From FIG. 7, it will be seen that the dispenser is comprised of the disc55 carrying at the top a pair of vertical blades 56, 57, theconstruction of which is quite identical to that for the previouslymentioned blades, but of a height obviously less than that of thebasket, which blades are in turn made fast with a first intermediatedisc valve 58. Said intermediate disc valve 58 is provided with acentral hole 59 for material loading, outlet ports 60, 61 fordischarging the centrifuged material to the upper zone of basket 15, andis made fast with a second disc valve 62 closing the basket at the top.Of course, this disc valve 62 is provided with a central hole 63communicating through a conduit with the aperture 59 of the underlyingdisc valve 58 and has ports 64, 65 for unloading the material into theoverlying collecting means (not shown in FIGS. 6 and 7). The location ofports 60, 61 of the first disc valve 58 corresponds to that as shown inFIG. 2 or FIG. 4, depending on the direction of the relative motion forthe timer relative to basket 15, while the location of ports 64 and 65of the second disc valve 62 is angularly offset, with respect to thelocation of the ports of the underlying disc valve in the same directionthe latter are offset with respect to the dispenser blades.

In the particular case of FIG. 6, the material on being left from theblade 56, will follow the broken line path 65 and emerge first throughthe port 61 of the inner disc valve 58 and then, still following thebroken line path in FIG. 6, will move relatively of the overlying discvalve 62 to finally emerge through the port 64.

The flat shape of the disc valve is such that the centrifugal force thematerial is subjected to is parallel to the valve surface, reducing theadherence of the material to said valve, thus assuring the operation ofthe machine; as a matter of fact, should as a limit the valve be conicalas the basket, but with a tapering opposite to that of the basket, thematerial would offer a same adherence on the basket and valve andindifferntly could follow the motion of either, compromising theoperation of the machine.

Moreover, in order to increase the dragging effect of the material bythe basket, tabs 17' (FIG. 1) could be mounted on the inner surface ofthe latter and preferably extend along the cone generatrices or maximumslope lines and thus such as not to obstruct the material flow duringunloading.

Let us consider again the material when being centrifuged, that is whendistributed along the arches 51, 52 (FIG. 2) and, remaining adhering tothe basket, creeps under the disc valve. This creeping occurs under theeffect of the centrifugal force urging the material to impale betweensaid basket and disc valve, thus establish ing a substantial resistingmoment to the relative motion of the two members. Still in the exampleshown in FIG. 2, it derives that, while the basket is constantlysubjected to a substantial braking torque, the disc valve, or the timerhaving an absolute speed of rotation lower than that of the basket, isconstantly subjected to a same torque which would cause it to accelerateits motion. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the torques applied to therotating members reverse the direction thereof, but the phenomenon issubstantially the same. Although said substantial torques are providedby a very slow relative motion, since the two coaxial shafts l9 and 24have high speeds of rotation, the powers being transmitted by saidshafts are very high and of opposite sign. Should, in place of theepicyclic controller train 42, as many pulleys be firmly keyed on thetwo shafts and connected by belts to the pulleys 36, 37, also the beltsshould be capable of transmitting said very high powers, while thecoupling of pulleys 36, 37 would form the closure of the mechanicalpower circuit substantially capable of cancelling the torque applied tothe basket and its drive by the reversed torque applied to the discvalve and its drive.

Thus, the operation of the machine would be assured without anyrequirement of supplying thereto high powers from the outside, it beinghowever required to proportionate the two drives due to the very highpower circulating in the mechanical circuit formed thereby and, shouldalso this be no problem for the two shafts, it would be such a problemfor the belts as to render substantially impossible an adoption thereof.

To this purpose, it should be noted that a different type of drive, suchas chains, speedy gears, idle shafts or the like, would involvesubstantial problems in dimensioning, floor space, lubrication andnoisiness, then resulting in a remarkable increase in construction andrunning cost of the machine.

By applying the epicyclic controller train 42 (FIG. 1), an exemplaryembodiment of which is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the result issubstantially provided of having therein an almost total cancelling ofthe accelerating or braking torque applied to the disc valve withbraking or acceleratlng torque applied to the basket,

and hence the by-pass of nearly all the circulating power, thus the taskbeing left to the belts and pulleys of providing for transmitting theresidual circulating power only which is of such an amount to be readilytransmitted by belts, and as well the transmission of the driving power,of course.

It is another function of said epicyclic controller train to enhance theslight difference in speed required for the two shafts to a moresubstantial difference in speed of rotation between the two pulleys 40and 41, thus enhancing the differences in diameters for the four pulleys36, 37, 40 and 41.

Thus, the differences between said four diameters become such that thegear ratios are not substantially altered either by the normal errors inpulley machining, or normal errors related to a belt-type drive.

In FIG. 8 it will be seen that the pulley 40, made fast with the outershaft 19, also forms the carrier for the epicyclic controller train.Thus, three pins 70, 71 and 72 are firmly coupled thereto at 120 (FIGS.8 and 9), on each of which two sets of idle bevel pinions 73, 74 and 75,76 rotate. A gear 77 is keyed on the inner shaft 24 and drives it, whilethe double idle wheel 78, 79 and the pinion 80 integrally connected bythe cup 81 to pulley 41 idly rotate on the lower portion 24' of saidshaft.

The movement from the pulley 41 is transmitted to the pinion 80comprising the first wheel of the train, the pinion rotates on pins 70,71 and 72 the first set of bevel pinions 75, 76 driving the double idlewheel 78, 79. The latter in turn controls the second set of bevelpinions 73, 74 of each pin and hence the gear 77.

The gear ratios for the several gear couplings may be such as to obtainthe required ratio to attain the above mentioned objects.

The circulation scheme for the mechanical power is shown in FIG. 10. Byfull line 82 the circulating power P1 is indicated as generated by thefriction of the centrifuged material 83 diagrammatically shown in FIG.10.

By the dash-dot line 84 and alternate dash-cross line 85 the portions Pand P for the power P, are shown as bypassed through the epicycliccontroller train; by the dashed line 86 the residual power P3 P1 P2 P2P"2 is shown; finally the line 87, made of a succession of smalltriangles, shows the driving power P4 being required to the motor 34 bythe several resistances to the machine motion. From the diagram in FIG.10, it will be apparent that P1 P2 -l- P"2 P3, and that only theresidual power P3, but of a considerably reduced value relative to powerP1, circulates through the belt drive. Thus, the belts 38 and 39 can beexclusively proportionated for a power equal to the sum of the residualpower P3 and driving power P4.

In FIG. 11 of the appended drawings, a fragmentary longitudinal sectionhas been shown for an actual constructive form of a hydroextractorprovided with a disc valve according to the invention, while in FIG. 12a partly front and partly sectional view has been shown for an actualconstructive form of the epicyclic controller train. In these figures,the same reference numerals have been used for the characteristic partsof the machine as those used for describing the preceding figures, whileother references have been used for the several parts. Moreover, in FIG.11 the dispenser has been sectioned on a plane normal to the directionof the blades.

FIGS. 11 and 12 will now be described in brief.

As shown in FIG. 11, the bottom wall 18 of the frustro-conical basket 15is formed of two parts, of which one is directly attached to the outerhollow shaft 19 and the other is attached to the former by suitablebolts. The edge of the second bottom wall 18 is shaped as a frustrum ofcone to form the seating against which the lower edge of basket 15 bearsand is secured. A cylindrical wall 90 on the bottom of trough 20surrounds the basket bottom 18 to prevent the water from entering themechanical drive of the machine. Moreover, as clearly shown in FIG. 11,the lubrication for the bear ings of the outer shaft 19 is carried outby a pump on the pulley 40, enabling the oil to circulate through theconduit 91 and said bearings.

In FIG. 11 it will be also seen that the dispenser base disc 23 and discvalve 33 have seen made integral to each other by suitable uprights 93bolted to the ends thereof.

In FIG. 12, a constructive form of the epicyclic controller train hasbeen shown and it will be seen that the carrier comprising the groovedpulley 40 has been made fast with the shaft 19 and that the gear 77comprising the last wheel for the train has been made fast with shaft24. It will be also seen that the cup 81 supporting the second groovedpulley 41 has been bolted to a block 96 idly rotating relative to thelower end 24 of shaft 24 and axially supported by thrust bearings 97from an underlying block 98 directly attached to the end of portion 24'of said shaft. Suitable gaskets provide for a sealing between therotating parts.

It should be understood that FIGS. 11 and 12, showing an actualconstruction of the machine according to the invention, have beenbriefly described as substantially within the inventive priciples abovefully set forth and because the constructive details of the machine canbe anyhow varied without departing from the covering scope of theinvention.

Referring now to FIG. 13, it will be seen that therein a diagrammaticview is shown for a hydroextractor, the dispenser of which comprisesthree blades 100, 101 and 102 angularly spaced apart from one another bysame angles and all of which facing the same direction. Correspondingly,the disc valve 103 has a same number of discharge ports 104, 105 and106, each of which angularly offset relative to the associated blade asabove set forth. Obviously, the amount of blades could be increased byfollowing the above given teachings.

Reference is now made to FIG. 14, showing an exemplary hydroextractorprovided with a two blade dispenser, in which it will be seen that onthe back of each blade 107, 108 a curved surface 109 is so provided asto form an air gap with the inner surface of basket 15, this air gapincreasing in an opposite direction of the relative motion for thedispenser with respect to the basket, and this to enable any materialbeing supplied thereto to be dragged along by the basket 15. Morevoer,at the rear edge of each discharge port a baffle element 111, 112 hasbeen applied to facilitate the outlet of the material when beingunloaded and to prevent the material from inserting between the basketand blade; the term rear should be intended related to the relativemotion of the material with respect to the disc valve.

What is claimed is:

l. A continuously operating hydroextractor, particularly for fibrousmaterial processing, comprising, in combination:

a. a basket rotating about an axis, and including a side wall;

b. a dispensing member rotatably mounted coaxially with and internallyof said basket, and provided with at least one material guide surfacedefining a path from the axis to the basket side wall and arranged for acentrifugal force to be effective in causing material being processed tonaturally slide thereon;

c. valve means connected to said dispenser member for rotation therewithand covering the basket at a top thereof, and including at least onedischarge port arranged for discharging process material from thebasket, the port being arranged at a predetermined angular spacing fromthe guide surface path for allowing a constant centrifugation time ofthe material being processed; and

d. means for rotating said basket and dispensing member, and guiding thematerial being processed along the guide surface to the basket sidewall.

2. A hydroextractor as defined in claim 1, wherein the basket side wallis sloped outwardly and the basket further includes a bottom wall, theside wall and bottom wall cooperating to form a frustrum of a cone,there are a plurality of guide surfaces defining a plurality of paths,the valve means is at least one disc valve having a central aperturearranged for supplying material to the basket and a plurality ofdischarge ports, the ports being side ports disposed at the periphery ofthe valve disc, and the means for rotating the basket and the dispensingmember and disc valve at different speeds relative to one another.

3. A hydroextractor as claimed in claim 2, wherein said dispensingmember comprises a bottom wall and at least two equiangularly spacedapart blades defining said paths; said blades being made simultaneouslyfast with said bottom wall and disc valve.

4. A hydroextractor as claimed in claim 3, wherein the blades areangularly shifted in advance relative to the corresponding ports in thedirection of the relative motion of the blades with respect to thebasket.

5. A hydroextractor as claimed in claim 3, wherein the dispenser membercomprises two opposite blades, each of which having a central straightportion parallel to a same diameter of the basket, and an end portionadjacent the basket wall oriented in an opposite direction to therelative motion of the blades with respect to said basket.

6. A hydroextractor as claimed in claim 2, comprising a fixed collectingmember placed at the top of said basket and communicating therewith bythe ports of the disc valve to collect the processed material anddischarge it through a side outlet, said collecting member having arotating bottom wall.

7. A hydroextractor as claimed in claim 6, wherein the rotating bottomwall of said dispenser comprises the disc valve closing the basket atthe top.

8. A hydroextractor as claimed in claim 2, wherein said dispenser memberis fast with a first drive shaft and the basket is fast with a seconddrive shaft external to and coaxial with said first shaft, said secondshaft being fast with the carrier of an epicyclic controller train,while said first shaft is fast with the last wheel of said train; thecarrier and first wheel of the train being driven to rotate at differentspeeds by a common power supply.

9. A hydroextractor as claimed in claim 2, comprising a plurality ofdisc valves made fast with one another, of which a first lower discvalve is fast with said dispensing member and at least one disc valveoverlying and spaced apart from the former; each disc valve having acentral aperture connected by a conduit to the central apertures of theremaining valves to define a supply path to the dispenser member for thematerial to be processed.

10. A hydroextractor as claimed in claim 2, wherein said dispensermember comprises at least two blades spaced apart from one another byequal angles and defining said paths, the height of the dispenser bladesbeing less than that of the basket.

11. A hydroextractor as claimed in claim 9, wherein the discharge portsof an underlying disc valve are angularly shifted in advance relative tothe ports of an overlying valve in the direction of the relative motionthereof with respect to the basket.

12. A hydroextractor as claimed in claim 1, wherein the side wall of thebasket are perforated.

13. A hydroextractor as claimed in claim 2, wherein on an inner surfacethe basket side wall has tabs extending along maximum slope lines of theside wall.

14. A hydroextractor as claimed in claim 10, wherein each blade has onits back an additional curved surface gradually approaching an innersurface of the basket in the direction of the relative motion of saidblade with respect to the basket.

15. A hydroextractor as claimed in claim 14, wherein the use is providedfor a baffle element at the rear edge of each discharge port of a discvalve.

1. A continuously operating hydroextractor, particularly for fibrousmaterial processing, comprising, in combination: a. a basket rotatingabout an axis, and including a side wall; b. a dispensing memberrotatably mounted coaxially with and internally of said basket, andprovided with at least one material guide surface defining a path fromthe axis to the basket side wall and arranged for a centrifugal force tobe effective in causing material being processed to naturally slidethereon; c. valve means connected to said dispenser member for rotationtherewith and covering the basket at a top thereof, and including atleast one discharge port arranged for discharging process material fromthe basket, the port being arranged at a predetermined angular spacingfrom the guide surface path for allowing a constant centrifugation timeof the material being processed; and d. means for rotating said basketand dispensing member, and guiding the material being processed alongthe guide surface to the basket side wall.
 2. A hydroextractor asdefined in claim 1, wherein the basket side wall is sloped outwardly andthe basket further includes a bottom wall, the side wall and bottom wallcooperating to form a frustrum of a cone, there are a plurality of guidesurfaces defining a plurality of paths, the valve means is at least onedisc valve having a central aperture arranged for supplying material tothe basket and a plurality of discharge ports, the ports being sideports disposed at the periphery of the valve disc, and the means forrotating the basket and the dispensing member and disc valve atdifferent speeds relative to one another.
 3. A hydroextractor as claimedin claim 2, wherein said dispensing member comprises a bottom wall andat least two equiangularly spaced apart blades defining said paths; saidblades being made simultaneously fast with said bottom wall and discvalve.
 4. A hydroextractor as claimed in claim 3, wherein the blades areangularly shifted in advance relative to the corresponding ports in thedirection of the relative motion of the blades with respect to thebasket.
 5. A hydroextractor as claimed in claim 3, wherein the dispensermember comprises two opposite blades, each of which having a centralstraight portion parallel to a same diameter of the basket, and an endportion adjacent the basket wall oriented in an opposite direction tothe relative motion of the blades with respect to said basket.
 6. Ahydroextractor as claimed in claim 2, comprising a fixed collectingmember placed at the top of said basket and communicating therewith bythe ports of the disc valve to collect the processed material anddischarge it through a side outlet, said collecting member having arotating bottom wall.
 7. A hydroextractor as claimed in claim 6, whereinthe rotating bottom wall of said dispenser comprises the disc valveclosing the basket at the top.
 8. A hydroextractor as claimed in claim2, wherein said dispenser member is fast with a first drive shaft andthe basket is fast with a second drive shaft external to and coaxialwith said first shaft, said second shaft being fast with the carrier ofan epicyclic controller train, wHile said first shaft is fast with thelast wheel of said train; the carrier and first wheel of the train beingdriven to rotate at different speeds by a common power supply.
 9. Ahydroextractor as claimed in claim 2, comprising a plurality of discvalves made fast with one another, of which a first lower disc valve isfast with said dispensing member and at least one disc valve overlyingand spaced apart from the former; each disc valve having a centralaperture connected by a conduit to the central apertures of theremaining valves to define a supply path to the dispenser member for thematerial to be processed.
 10. A hydroextractor as claimed in claim 2,wherein said dispenser member comprises at least two blades spaced apartfrom one another by equal angles and defining said paths, the height ofthe dispenser blades being less than that of the basket.
 11. Ahydroextractor as claimed in claim 9, wherein the discharge ports of anunderlying disc valve are angularly shifted in advance relative to theports of an overlying valve in the direction of the relative motionthereof with respect to the basket.
 12. A hydroextractor as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the side wall of the basket are perforated.
 13. Ahydroextractor as claimed in claim 2, wherein on an inner surface thebasket side wall has tabs extending along maximum slope lines of theside wall.
 14. A hydroextractor as claimed in claim 10, wherein eachblade has on its back an additional curved surface gradually approachingan inner surface of the basket in the direction of the relative motionof said blade with respect to the basket.
 15. A hydroextractor asclaimed in claim 14, wherein the use is provided for a baffle element atthe rear edge of each discharge port of a disc valve.